Food Aggression/Resource Guarding

Being possessive over resources is a very common trait in many dogs. We must teach them from as young as possible that it is O.K. for them to have people around their resources.

If your dog gets aggressive while eating its meals, you need to change its perception of what you are about to do.

Example:
Fido growls or snaps at anyone who approaches him while he’s eating his dinner.

Solution:
We give Fido a small, possibly bland meal (like dry kibble). While Fido is eating, we leave and find some higher value food (like roast chicken). We return to Fido and as soon as he acknowledges us, we throw some chicken towards his bowl regardless of his reaction.

Repeating this exercise on a daily basis will retrain Fido to think that we are not approaching him to steal his food, but are actually there to bring extras.

His reactions will likely change over the next few weeks from aggressive behaviour to inviting you to join him even closer so you can bring the best food!

Take caution when training this exercise and do not push your dog. We recommend you see a trainer to demonstrate this properly before trying it. These notes should be considered as supplementary material for existing clients.